The concept of devices for lifting heavy metal mixing bowls is old in the art. Typically, a mixing bowl may weigh in excess of 70 pounds and the mixing bowl with its contents may weight in excess of 400 pounds. Since the mixing bowls and their contents usually need to be moved from a mixing area to a baking area it is necessary to have some type of device to move the heavy mixing bowl and its contents. Prior art bowl-lifting devices generally consist of some type of a vertical shaft that has a cantilevered bowl-lifting arm extending perpendicular outward from the vertical shaft. Typically, either a hydraulic cylinder or a power driven screw drive lifts the mixing bowl to the proper height. Once elevated, the bowl can be moved to a second location and then tilted to empty its contents. The present invention comprises an improvement to the prior art bowl-lifting devices by providing a portable, lightweight, inexpensive bowl-lifting device which quickly lifts the bowl while at the same time automatically locks the bowl into the bowl-lifting device to prevent the mixing bowl and its contents from falling off the bowl-lifting device. Once the bowl-lifting device lifts the mixing bowl off the floor or a dolly the user can wheel the mixing bowl with its contents to a new location where the contents of the mixing bowl are emptied. To insure that the heavy mixing bowl does not swing dangerously back and forth in the bowl-lifting device the present invention includes a bowl damper or shock absorber to dampen oscillations of the mixing bowl and thus minimize chances of injury to a person who may accidently come in contact with the heavy mixing bowl. The bowl-lifting apparatus also includes a lever for a user to quickly empty the contents of the mixing bowl into another container. Also should the mixing bowl not be properly orientated on the bowl-lifting arms a safety switch prevents the operator from raising the mixing bowl and its contents.